Boulder Backroads race report

Last Sunday, I ran the Boulder Backroads half-marathon with my friend Denise. It was a fabulous day weather-wise, on a course with amazing views of the Front Range. A few sample shots of the course will give you the idea.

This is the view near the turn-around point of the half-marathon course, out in the country between Boulder and Longmont.












The photo below, labelled "Mile 22," is actually the half-marathon Mile 9. The marathon course overlaps the half-marathon course for quite a way; it adds a long loop to the northwest to double the distance.










The event was extraordinarily well-organized. Over 3000 runners and walkers participated, 2000 of them in the half-marathon. It was really something to line up at the starting line with 2000 other runners from all over the country. Because most sane and sensible people don't run a half-marathon at blisteringly fast paces, I met a few of my fellow runners along the way as we cheered each other on.

In the first two miles, I ran near two women who were discussing intimate details of one's recent divorce. I didn't introduce myself but certainly learned more than I wanted to know about their past (and the brunette's ex-husband). Eventually I lost them at the first aid station, much to my relief. The next runner who hit about the same stride I did, around the fourth mile, was a gentleman in his mid-50's who had come from Pittsburgh for the race. He waxed poetic about the weather and the scenery and Colorado's general goodness, then admonished me to "Love living here!" before he caught his second wind and disappeared into the distance. After the turnaround, about mile 7, I caught up with three college girls who were discussing their courses in detail. They were also discussing the young men in those courses, to be fair, but it was fun to hear what they thought about their literature courses in particular.

I discovered something interesting along the way: a LOT of runners were pushing for a finish time of around 2 hours. I'd set myself a personal goal of 2 hours 10 minutes, which would have put me exactly in the middle of the pack for last year's finishers. Because so many people were pushing for the two-hour mark, there weren't a whole lot of runners running at exactly my pace. This meant more space on the dirt roads for me, hurray! (With 1999 fellow runners and 13 miles' worth of time on my hands, thoughts like that kept me from wondering why everyone seemed to be passing me.)

I finished with a personal best time of 2:06:17. It was definitely a PB, because I've never run that far before! For comparison's sake, the women's half-marathon winner finished in 1:17, and the women's marathon winner finished in 2:43:10.

Supposedly there were celebrities present. A few fellow tribloggers, including Bolder and Tri-daddy, also ran the half-marathon, but I didn't have the pleasure of meeting them in person. Also at the Backroads was Dean Karnazes, the insane runner who's trying to complete 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days. Didn't see him or his film crew, but he finished in 3:46:56, about the time we finally pulled out of the race parking lot. :)